The Oscar nomination received by The Act of Killing, the documentary about massacres in Indonesia in the 1960s, has caused an outcry in China, where the events – partly directed against ethnic Chinese in the country – were little known.

According to the South China Morning Post, users of Chinese social media were appalled by descriptions of the film's content, which documents "re-enactions" by former death squad members of anti-communist purges during the early years of the Suharto regime in 1966. The film also alludes to the extortion and murder of the Chinese community in Indonesia at the time. The SCMP said bloggers also made parallels with the 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia, in which over a thousand people were killed.

Online discussions led to Chinese calls for a boycott of Indonesia and demands for an apology. The fact that Indonesia itself, as well as China, has attempted to whitewash the massacres from its own history also caused anger.

The SCMP quote Shanghai-based consultant Chen Zonghe: "Indonesia has never apologised over the 1998 massacre against the Chinese. Both Indonesia and China have to step out and offer an explanation for this history."

As yet there are no plans for a release in China, though the film was shown at the Urban Nomad festival in Taiwan last year.